Third Grade Teacher Includes Consent in Her Lesson Plan

A third grade teacher who was upset about Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings decided to tackle part of the conversation in her classroom by teaching her students about consent.

Liz Kleinrock, a teacher at Citizens of the World Charter School in Los Angeles, created a chart with simple statements and questions that explain consent in a way that would make sense to 8- and 9-year-olds, according to CNN. The lesson applies to everyday behaviors that anyone should get consent for before doing — including hugging, touching, or borrowing something. Kleinrock, who calls her lesson “All About Consent,” explained the inspiration for it in an Instagram post on September 26, the day before Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford’s Senate testimonies:

“Everything about Kavanaugh in the news has been making me HEATED,” Kleinrock wrote below a photo of her “All About Consent” chart. “So whenever I get frustrated about the state of our country, it inspires me to proactively teach my kids to DO BETTER. Today was all about CONSENT. We even explored the grey areas, like if someone says ‘yes’ but their tone and body language really says ‘no.’ Role playing is a great way to reinforce these skills, but they MUST be taught explicitly!”

The chart is divided into five sections. The first asks “What does it mean to give consent?” and three others ask: “What does consent sound like?,” “When do we need to ask for consent?,” and “What can you do if you do not give consent?” Then, there’s a box that lists scenarios that are “NOT Consent” like: “What if you really want a hug but the other person doesn’t?” and “What if you’re in the middle of a hug and the person changes their mind?”

Parents commented on Kleinrock’s post with messages like “I'm going to share this with my 12 year old son. Thank you!” Many others noted that Kleinrock’s message shouldn’t only be taught to children, and that the victim-blaming and shaming Ford faced after accusing Kavanaugh of sexual assault shows that adults need lessons like this too. “This is FANTASTIC. Kids can understand this. Why can't adults?,” one user wrote.

Kleinrock also shared images of her students’ written responses to why consent is important. One read “Asking for consent is important because if you don’t they might not trust you the next time.”

Though Kleinrock was mostly met with support on Instagram, many people called for her to be fired. But Kleinrock told CNN: "The school is very supportive of my lessons. Social conduct is very important to the school's policy, as well as teaching inclusion and diversity. They make sure that we teach this equally to subjects like math or writing."

On social media, people have been voicing their support for the lesson.

Kleinrock also told BuzzFeed News that her lesson aims to help students build skills that will help them navigate sexual consent when they get older. “Way down the road, middle school, high school, can you really begin to learn consent within relationships if you can't learn to keep your hands to yourself?" she said.

Kleinrock told KFOR that consent is about acceptable behavior — not just sexual behavior — and that she hopes teachers and parents realize that teaching kids how to act and treat others is a collective responsibility. “Parents, caregivers, and educators need to build a partnership. We shouldn’t be this divisive when it comes to spreading a message that will benefit our children in the future,” she told KFOR. “Everyone should be respected no matter what.”